The Love Test

by Max Lucado

Have you ever made decisions about your relationships based on your feelings instead of the facts? When it comes to love, feelings rule the day. Emotions guide the ship. Goose bumps call the shots. But should they? Can feelings be trusted? Can a relationship feel right but be wrong?

Feelings can fool you. Yesterday I spoke with a teenage girl who is puzzled by the lack of feelings she has for a guy. Before they started dating, she was wild about him. The minute he showed interest in her, however, she lost interest.

I’m thinking also of a young mom. Being a parent isn’t as romantic as she anticipated. Diapers and midnight feedings aren’t any fun, and she’s feeling guilty because they aren’t. Am I low on love? she wonders.

How do you answer such questions? Ever wish you had a way to assess the quality of your affection? A DNA test for love? Paul offers us one: “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6 NIV). In this verse lies a test for love. Want to separate the fake from the factual, the counterfeit from the real thing? Want to know if what you feel is genuine love? Ask yourself this:

Do I encourage this person to do what is right? For true love “takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6 JB).
If you find yourself prompting evil in others, heed the alarm. This is not love. And if others prompt evil in you, be alert.
Here’s an example. A classic one. A young couple are on a date. His affection goes beyond her comfort zone. She resists. But he tries to persuade her with the oldest line in the book: “But I love you. I just want to be near you. If you loved me …”
That siren you hear? It’s the phony-love detector. This guy doesn’t love her. He may love having sex with her. He may love her body. He may love boasting to his buddies about his conquest. But he doesn’t love her. True love will never ask the “beloved” to do what he or she thinks is wrong.

Love doesn’t tear down the convictions of others. Quite the contrary.
“Love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1).
“Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light and will not cause anyone to stumble” (1 John 2:10).
“You are sinning against Christ when you sin against other Christians by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong” (1 Cor. 8:12 NLT).

Do you want to know if your love for someone is true? If your friendship is genuine? Ask yourself: Do I influence this person to do what is right?

From A Love Worth Giving
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2002) Max Lucado

Hungry, Sleepy and Tired

"I'm tired," he sighed. So he stopped. "You go on and get the food. I'll rest right here." He was tired. Bone-tired. His feet were hurting. His face was hot. The noon sun was sizzling. He wanted to rest. So he stopped at the well, waved on his disciples, stretched a bit, and sat down. But before he could close his eyes, here came a Samaritan woman. She was alone. Maybe it was the bags under her eyes or the way she stooped that made him forget how weary he was. "How strange that she should be here at midday."

"I'm sleepy." He stretched. He yawned. It had been a long day. The crowd had been large, so large that preaching on the beach had proved to be an occupational hazard, so he had taught from the bow of a fishing boat. And now night had fallen and Jesus was sleepy. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to catch a few winks." So he did. On a cloud-covered night on the Sea of Galilee, God went to sleep. Someone rustled him a pillow and he went to the boat's driest point and sacked out. So deep was his sleep, the thunder did not awake him. Nor did the tossing of the boat. Nor did the salty spray of the storm-blown waves. Only the screams of some breathless disciples could penetrate his slumber.

"I'm angry." He didn't have to say it; you could see it in his eyes. Face red. Blood vessels bulging. Fists clenched. "I ain't taking this no more!" And what was a temple became a one-sided barroom brawl. What was a normal day at the market became a one-man riot. And what was a smile on the face of the Son of God became a scowl. "Get out of here!" The only thing that flew higher than the tables were the doves flapping their way to freedom. An angry Messiah made his point: don't go making money off religion, or God will make hay of you!

We are indebted to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for choosing to include these tidbits of humanity. They didn't have to, you know. But they did - and at just the right times.

Just as his divinity is becoming untouchable, just when his perfection becomes inimitable, the phone rings and a voice whispers, "He was human. Don't forget. He had a flesh."

Just at the right time we are reminded that the one to whom we pray knows our feelings. He knows temptation. He has felt discouraged. He has been hungry and sleepy and tired. He knows what we feel like when our children want different things at the same time. He nods in understanding when we pray in anger. He is touched when we tell him there is more to do than can ever be done. He smiles when we confess our weariness.

taken from:
Max Lucado's No Wonder They Call Him the Savior; I Thirst

Dunia Maya

Sebuah dunia yang tidak kasat mata. Di dalamnya kita bisa berjalan ke sana ke sini tanpa ada yang mengetahui sedang di mana kita berada, kecuali apabila kita mengumumkannya. Di sana kita bisa bertemu dengan banyak orang. Bisa berkoneksi dengan belahan dunia lain dalam hitungan detik. Dalam waktu yang bersamaan kita bisa mengakses beragam informasi. Klik sana dan klik sini, sambil berkomunikasi dengan teman-teman lewat messenger.

Di sini kita bilang begini, di sana kita bilang begitu. Bisa jadi, kita terjerumus dalam kepura-puraan; ketidakjujuran, bahkan kemunafikan. Siapa yang bisa tahu kebenaran yang sedang kita 'katakan' dalam dunia maya? -selain diri kita sendiri- Atau, siapa yang bisa mengenali diri kita yang sebenarnya? -selain diri kita sendiri.

Beberapa orang malah merasa lebih bisa terbuka di saat berada di dunia maya. Mereka bisa menceritakan segala sesuatunya di dalam dunia maya ini. Segala yang menjadi ganjalan bisa terluapkan dengan leluasa di sini. Terlepas dari keruwetan masalah yang masih juga ada setelah mereka mengungkapkan isi hatinya, yang penting rasa lega itu sudah terincip.

Ribuan informasi bisa kita terima dalam waktu singkat. Berita yang nggak jelas sumbernya. Informasi yang nggak penting. Fakta yang tidak dapat dipercaya. Walaupun ada juga yang informasinya bisa dipercaya. Namun, segala sesuatu yang kita dapatkan dari dunia ini hendaklah kita periksa dengan teliti dan sungguh-sungguh (terlebih dahulu) kebenarannya sebelum kita sampaikan/bagikan dengan orang lain.

Di dunia ini pula, kita bisa bertemu dengan orang-orang yang tidak pernah kita temui di dunia nyata. Bisa jadi kita berada di satu kota, namun tidak pernah bersua. Atau bisa juga kita pernah bertemu di suatu tempat, namun tidak pernah saling menyapa. Namun di dunia maya, kita bisa saling berceloteh dengan serunya. Tidak tertutup kemungkinan juga, di saat kita bertemu di dunia nyata kita bertegur sapa dengan ramah dan sopan, namun di saat bersua di dunia maya kita saling cakar dan serang dengan sengitnya.

Dua dunia yang sesungguhnya berada di satu dunia. Dua dunia yang bisa menyatukan namun kadang malah menimbulkan perpecahan. Semuanya kembali kepada bagaimana kita menyikapi dan mengambil tindakan terhadapnya. Niat seperti apakah yang kita miliki di saat kita mengakses dunia maya, misi seperti apakah yang kita emban, ke manakah kita akan membiarkan diri hanyut dalam arus maya ini, atau kontrol diri yang sempurna sudah kita miliki di saat jari kita mengarahkan mouse dan menekan tombol keyboard?